While compiling the list for the Largest Malls of the World, I wondered if I would have to globetrot and surrender my soul to all the master artisans who built these modern-day temples. Spread across tens of thousands of square feet these hosts a variety of stores enticing you to exhaust your credit card limit. Seducing you with their glamor and tantalizing you with its wares, shopping malls have come a long way from the rowdy bazaars to sophisticated splendor. We’ve compiled a list of 10 such malls, the largest in the world:
10. South China Mall
Located in Dongguan, spanning a retail space of over 6.5 million square-feet of total floor area, the South China Mall is home to 1,500 stores. It has been cleverly divided into seven zones modeled on: Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Venice, Egypt, the Caribbean, and California. Nonetheless, though the mall debuted in 2006, much of the retail space remains empty. Analysts say that the main reason the mall is so far largely unoccupied is that it is located in the suburbs of Dongguan, which is not well connected by China’s public transport system.
9. Golden Resources Shopping Mall
Located near the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing, China, the Great Mall of China boasts of a total area of 7.3 million square feet (680,000 square metres) spread over six floors. It is 1.5 times the size of the Mall of America. It was completed in October 2004 after 20 months of construction.
8. Central World
This is the largest shopping mall and office complex in Bangkok owned by the Central Group. Spread over 800,000-square-metre, the mall is the largest shopping center in South-East Asia and is larger than Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal. Originally called the World Trade Centre, the eight-storey mall opened in 1990.
7. The SM Mall of Asia
Also known as MOA, the SM Mall of Asia is the largest shopping mall in the Philippines. Spread over an area of 407,101 square metres, the mall opened in May 2006. It is owned and operated by SM Prime Holdings, under the management of Henry Sy, a Chinese-Filipino business tycoon. One of the mall’s main attraction is the first ever IMAX theatre in the country. The mall also features the Philippines’s first Olympic-size (61 by 30 metres) ice skating rink.
6. Dream Mall
Located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the Dream Mall is the largest shopping mall in Taiwan and the second largest in Southeast Asia after the Mall of Asia in Manila, the Philippines. Spread over an area of 400,001 square metres, the mall was designed by international architecture firm RTKL, based in Baltimore, Maryland and opened on May 12, 2007.
5. West Edmonton Mall
Spread over an area of 3,50,000 square metres, the West Edmonton Mall is situated in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has over 800 stores and parking for more than 20,000 vehicles. More than 23,000 people are employed in the mall. The mall receives 28.2 million visitors per year and between 60,000 and 150,000 shoppers daily depending on the day and season. The mall’s amusement park was originally called Fantasyland, until The Walt Disney Company took the mall to court, claiming ownership of the name, which is used in its theme parks such as Disneyland.
4. Cevahir Shopping Centre
Opened in October 2005, the Cevahir Shopping Centre is a modern shopping and entertainment centre located in the Sisli district of Istanbul, Turkey.
Spread over an area of 348,000 square metres, Cevahir Mall is the largest shopping centre in Europe, and the seventh largest in the world. The project, originally a trade complex, including retail centres and three skyscrapers with 40 and 48 floors to replace one of the city’s old bus depots, was designed in 1987 by American architects Minoru Yamasaki & Associates. The foundation stone was laid in 1997; however, it took eight years to complete only the shopping section due to numerous delays.
3. SM City North EDSA
The SM City North EDSA is one of the biggest and first shopping malls in the Philippines and one of the biggest shopping malls in the world spread over an area of 331,861 square metres. It is the first major shopping complex established by Henry Sy and his company SM Prime Holdings, the largest retail corporation in the country. Since its establishment in 1983, it has done several major expansions and renovations, and features a bowling alley, food court, garden, entertainment centre and 12-theatres.
2. SM Megamall
The SM Megamall is a large shopping mall in the Ortigas business district of Metro Manila, the Philippines, owned and operated by SM Prime Holdings. The mall is spread over an area of 331,679 square metres. One of the first ice skating rinks in the country can be found in this mall. For conventions and functions, the mall houses three SM Megatrade Halls on its top floor. The Bridgeway connecting the two main buildings of the mall contains several eateries.
1. Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur Shopping Mall
Berjaya Times Square KL is tagged as the ‘world’s largest building ever built in a single phase’, with 7.5 million square feet (700,000 square metre) of built up floor area. The mall within is spread over an area of 320,000 square metres. Currently, the mall has space for more than 1,000 retail shops, 1200 luxury service suites, 65 food outlets and other attractions like Asia’s largest indoor theme park, Cosmo’s World and Malaysia’s first-ever IMAX 2D & 3D theatre. The Kuala Lumpur Monorail’s Imbi station is linked to the building by a footbridge.
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